AT&T’s lawyers “clearly spent more time thumbing through a thesaurus than formulating a credible counter proposal that empowers competition,” said Computer and Communications Industry Association CEO Ed Black Thursday in an emailed response to an AT&T filing criticizing set-top box proposals from CCIA (see 1608250052). “We offered a substantive proposal. We are still waiting on a substantive response."

Costs of developing industry standards, like those on wireless emergency alerts, vary widely, Patricia Higginbotham, Telecommunications Industry Association general counsel, told the FCC. TIA reported on a call between Higginbotham and James Wiley, a Public Safety Bureau staffer. Wiley asked about "the time, resources, number of volunteers, engineering committee meeting frequency, and other factors that drive overall costs associated with the development and modification of standards,” TIA said. “Higginbotham responded that, due to wide variance in the complexity of the subject matters, nature of the issues to be addressed, frequency of engineering committee meetings, scope of interested company and agency participants, and other factors, it is difficult to estimate the potential costs.” The filing was posted Thursday in docket 15-91.

Comments are due at the FCC Sept. 14 on proposed video relay service standards for interoperability and portability developed by VRS stakeholders (there are no replies due). The Federal Register Wednesday published a summary of a Further NPRM issued by the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Aug. 4 in docket 10-51 (see 1608050031). "These standards will enable a VRS user to place and receive calls through any VRS provider and make point-to-point calls to all other VRS users, irrespective of the default provider of the parties to the call, and without the caller having to change the VRS access technology used to make such calls," the notice said. VRS providers will have to comply with the new standards to be compensated under the program, which subsidizes relay services allowing deaf and hearing people to communicate with one another through a sign-language interpreter.

Health insurance companies are asking for more clarity on implementation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, beyond what the FCC sought to provide a year ago in an order and declaratory ruling (see 1506180046). The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau agreed to seek comment. The insurance companies asked the agency to clarify that provision of a phone number to a “covered entity” or “business associate,” as defined under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), constitutes prior express consent for nontelemarketing calls, said a bureau notice. “The Petitioners contend that such ruling and/or clarification is necessary to harmonize the TCPA, HIPAA, and prior Commission rulings while protecting important health care communications,” the bureau said in a notice. Anthem, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, WellCare Health Plans and the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management signed the petition. Comments are due Sept. 19, replies Oct. 4, in docket 02-278.

The FCC said Telecom House agreed to pay at least $75,000 to settle an Enforcement Bureau investigation into whether the company violated various statutory and regulatory provisions in failing to comply with the terms of a prior consent decree, pay certain fees, and file forms and certifications. Telecom House admitted to certain violations and "will implement a compliance plan" and pay a $75,000 civil penalty, said an order, which was attached to a new consent decree Friday in File No. EB-IHD-1400014872. "Upon an Event of Default, as defined and described in the attached Consent Decree, Telecom House agrees to pay an additional" $175,000 civil penalty. Telecom House didn't comment.

The FCC online system for filing 911 reliability certifications reopened so providers can start filing their annual reliability certifications, the Public Safety Bureau said in a Friday public notice. The certifications are due Oct. 15. "Covered 911 Service Providers that wish to begin submitting information for the Annual Reliability Certification may now do so through the Commission’s online portal,” the bureau said.

Wired magazine endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Thursday, an atypical practice for the publication. Clinton “has ideas that clear away stumbling blocks for entrepreneurs and strivers,” Editor-in-Chief Scott Dadich wrote in the endorsement. “Clinton favors net neutrality -- giving every packet of data on the Internet the same priority, regardless of whether they originate from a media corporation or from you and me.” Despite listing many positions he favors, he slammed her encryption stance: “Her specific position on encryption is tough to pin down, but she seems to favor encryption weak enough for law enforcement to penetrate. That violates basic privacy.” He lauded Clinton’s policy understanding as that of a “technician” and said the magazine’s endorsement is “one shared by an overwhelming number of tech leaders.”

Parties interested in discussing the local number portability administrator transition from Neustar to Telcordia/iconectiv can meet with officials from PwC at two events in September. The North American Portability Management (NAPM) chose PwC as the LNPA transition oversight manager. The PwC officials will be available for in-person meetings Sept. 7 (10 a.m.-5 p.m. PDT) and Sept. 8 (9 a.m.-3 p.m. PDT) at the Venetian I Palazzo Congress Center, adjacent to the CTIA conference in Las Vegas, and Sept. 26-27 (10 a.m. to 5 pm. EDT both days) at the JW Marriott Indianapolis, where an NTCA conference will be, said a PwC email. The meetings don't require registration or appointments, but parties with questions or seeking a particular time for a meeting can send them to an NAPM webpage.

FTC staff commented to the Delaware Board of Dietetics/Nutrition on its proposed telehealth regulation that would allow licensed dietitians and nutritionists to determine whether the virtual technology would be appropriate for patient care and delivery, said the commission, which voted 3-0 to issue comment, in a Wednesday news release. The FTC Office of Policy Planning, and bureaus of Competition and Economics collectively said in a Tuesday letter to the board that telehealth "could enhance consumer choice by providing an alternative to in-person care, potentially reducing travel costs and increasing access to care." But FTC staff said the proposed regulation also requires initial evaluations be done in person rather than via telehealth, a requirement that "could unnecessarily discourage" use of the technology and restrict consumer choice. The FTC encouraged the board "to consider whether the proposed regulation could be improved by eliminating the prohibition on the use of telehealth for initial evaluations and expressly state that ... licensees have the option to use electronic communications for assessment and diagnosis."

Less Government President Seton Motley bashed the broadband deployment plan that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has been touting (see 1608110054). “Mrs. Clinton is making broadband promises that would be impossible to keep under the best of circumstances -- conditions government is utterly incapable of setting,” Motley said in a Tuesday column for conservative news website Townhall. “And using the exact same throw-government-money-at-it model that has already failed too many times to even count. How very DC of her.”